Jim & Maureen Wilkas's Journal

Our Miss Daisy now wears a beautiful new set of shoes! I plan to take her out for a photo session soon, so additional pictures will follow...

I didn't realize how much extra work was needed to do this project! I had to fabricate 6 brackets to fix to the back of the wood dash to mount it to the car. Also, I am finding out AFTER the fact that some of the components don't fit the routings from the back of the dash...now that it's all mounted, I have to finagle a Dremel tool back there to enlarge the ignition switch hole. Another new problem...some components rely on being grounded to the dash. Now I have to rewire a few things so they can be grounded. As I recall, walnut does not make a good electrical conductor. LOL.

Well, as of yesterday, I decided to embark on the dashboard replacement. The original dash was very poorly painted black (looks like with a brush!! Ugh..)Now, I know that the original is supposed to be painted the same as the body, but I have a walnut dash which I think would look beautiful. I'm keeping and restoring the original, and will have it painted when the car gets repainted. Thanks to the "MG GURU" website, I've been able to understand how many of the instruments are removed, repaired, wired, etc.. As I recall, I had done work on my '71 MGB, but now at 54, I'm finding that I'm much less limber with my body contorting to get under the dash in that small space. I'm sure my chiropractor will be happy.